Plain Dealer fileCuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald: "Jon Husted may not like the fact that we are offering our constituents better service by sending everyone an application to vote by mail. But that doesn't give him the right to threaten to disenfranchise our citizens and create confusion."

Fitzgerald says the secretary of state's remarks raise issues about voters' rights and voter suppression that merit a review by the U.S. Department of Justice. He said his office will forward a transcript of Husted's remarks to members of the delegation so they can help raise the issue.

"Jon Husted may not like the fact that we are offering our constituents better service by sending everyone an application to vote by mail," FitzGerald said Sunday at a news conference outside the county's elections board. "But that doesn't give him the right to threaten to disenfranchise our citizens and create confusion."

FitzGerald said he considers the secretary of state's Friday comments as an attack on the Federal Voting Rights Act and hopes Husted changes his mind.

"We would all be better off if he walks that statement back," FitzGerald said.

Cuyahoga County sprawls over four congressional districts now held by Republican Steve LaTourette of Bainbridge Township and Democrats Betty Sutton of Copley Township, Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland and Marcia Fudge of Warrensville Heights. Fudge has made several recent statements about what she views as "voter suppression efforts."

Husted banned county election boards from mailing applications to all registered voters, arguing that policies throughout the state should be uniform. But Husted's directive, issued Aug. 22, does not prohibit FitzGerald's office from sending the applications.

Asked on Friday what legal power he has to keep Cuyahoga County from continuing with its mailing plans, Husted told Ohio Public Radio Friday his office is looking at "prohibiting the board from processing the applications because they're not consistent with the law."

"There are lots of things that could be done that we're exploring, but we don't need a controversy over this. It seems like we can all agree on a set of uniform standards and live by them, and that's what I hope Cuyahoga County will do in the end."

He qualified his position in a statement on Sunday in response to FitzGerald's remarks, saying that "every legal absentee ballot application received by boards of elections will be processed and a ballot will be sent."

Husted described FitzGerald's comments as "laughable."

"It is important that voters in all 88 counties be given equal access to a ballot, and I will work to uphold that standard, even in the face of rogue actors like Mr. FitzGerald," Husted said.

The county executive defended the vote-by-mail program Sunday, saying it has simplified voting for thousands of residents, including senior citizens who have trouble getting to voting sites. It has also helped the county avoid situations outside the polls like those in 2004 when Ohio made national news for long lines and waiting times for voters.

"The fact is, Jon Husted can't order the Board of Elections to refuse to allow citizens to vote by mail," FitzGerald said. "For him to suggest that he can creates a real risk of sowing confusion among Cuyahoga County residents about this election."

In addition to Husted's directive, a state law that could take effect in six weeks would prohibit county election boards from paying return postage on applications or paying postage for completed ballots. The organization Fair Elections Ohio hopes to get a referendum on the law, but the group must collect more than 230,000 valid signatures by Sept. 29 to get it on the November 2012 ballot.

The Cuyahoga County elections board has mailed ballot applications to about 650,000 active voters since 2006, when the practice began in the county. In Cuyahoga County, 47 percent of the more than 416,000 people who voted in the 2010 general election cast absentee ballots.

Franklin and Hamilton counties had similar programs.

The elections board typically sent applications to all registered voters and paid for the return postage for completed applications. The postage for the ballots was also covered by the board.

Under FitzGerald's plan, his administration will pay about $330,000 for the mass mailing, provided the County Council approves the expense when it meets today. He said the measure has backing from more members than needed for passage.

The Board of Elections will cover the estimated $454,000 for printing and mailing the actual ballots.

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